Delivery of asbestos-contaminated stone from Austria to Hungary to end on Friday

“I am pleased to announce that, as a result of my meeting today, there will be no more aggregates contaminated with asbestos arriving from the Austrian mines that have been supplying them until now,” László Gajdos announced in a video posted to his social media page. In the description of the video, the Hungarian Minister responsible for the Living Environment said that they were able to reach an agreement with the owner of the mine to completely halt sales to Hungary as of Friday, thereby “averting the immediate danger without having to initiate the closure of the mine.”

He also said in the video that the next step will be “to dispose of the aggregates which have already been laid down in western Hungary, and to protect the health of the population in the affected region.” He did not elaborate on how this will be carried out.

The announcement comes after the recent revelation that asbestos-contaminated stone chippings, originating from four Austrian mines may have ended up in Hungary. One of the affected towns is Szombathely, where several streets in the Oladi Plateau—a neighborhood currently being developed—have been covered with crushed stone containing asbestos, but municipal parking lots and private driveways have also been paved with this material. When Minister Gajdos visited the site in person, he stated that Szombathely is not the only place where these aggregates have been used. In fact, the same contaminant has been detected in more than 300 locations, affecting at least three counties—for example, the same type of aggregate was used on surfaces in Kőszeg and Sopron as well.